Treatment of depression and the hidden dangers of the SSRIs antidepressants

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Tuesday March 22, 2005 21:59

by Nuria O'Mahony - Emergency Nurse

nurianiall at eircom dot net

We deserve to know the truth about the safety of our prescription drugs

Consumers have a right to expect full and impartial information about the potential risks and adverse effects of prescription medication in Ireland. This information is essential to make informed decisions about treatment, weighing up the real risks as well as the real benefits. This is not happening at present with the SSRIs.

Dialogue, communication, information, empowerment, counselling, love, concern, compassion, friendship, human comfort/contact, community solidarity, listening, nature, enlightenment, family, exercise, meditation, religion, attention…. This is not the language that it is in use around the treatment of depression today and I have to ask why not?

We need strong resilient communities. The human soul can overcome most of their problems without needing to reach for the medicine cabinet. Time heals and time to the service of each other nurtures our communities and our people.

The quick fix for emotional pain, inevitably ends up denying both the social and spiritual dimensions of our sorrows. Emotional suffering (grief, fear and despair) is not a sign of mental disorder or illness. It is a universal fact of live.

Because we are vulnerable, life hurts. We are not here to be free of pain. We are here to have our hearts broken by life. To learn to live with vulnerability and to turn pain into love. The emotion we used to call "despair", for instance, has been redubbed “Clinical depression” a biochemical disorder that should be treated with medication. Untrue!!! These drugs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (antidepressants) –SSRIs-) do not cure depression (might alleviate some symptoms if you are lucky), as nobody knows what causes depression and for some the "cure" is worse than the disorder.

"The pharmaceutical industry would like us to believe that SSRIs can safely treat depression, anxiety, and a host of other mental problems. But this "cure" may be worse than the disease!!!" –Professor David Healy

These drugs (SSRIs) can produce in patients exactly what they suppose to treat. The Chemical imbalance unproven hypothesis in your brain for depression is just that a hypothesis and it is unproven. Nobody knows the normal levels of Serotonin in a live brain. Patients are being seriously misled. No abnormality of serotonin in Depression has ever been demonstrated. Even if a biochemical imbalance were found in some depressed patients, this would not necessarily mean that it was the cause of the problem. This is almost like saying that someone whose headache is relieved by aspirin has an aspirin deficiency. Even in diabetes where there is a proven blood sugar imbalance. Only 10% of patients have conditions severe enough to require insulin. What if doctors (endorsed by pharmaceuticals) tried to make all diabetics dependent on insulin?? Or if paradoxically insulin could raise sugars as well as lowering them. Very few diabetics would survive and it would be a great scandal in the treatment of the condition. So are the SSRIs to Depression. The term anti-depressant is misleading because it implies a definitive treatment for a definitive condition, neither of which is the case.

Suicide is something anyone contemplating using an SSRI finds hard to envisage happening to them. My husband was one of those people…he died of SSRIs induced suicide in 2003 (the medication played a major part on his suicide), 13 days after starting the course. Not the first not the last. Being a knowledgeable Psychiatric Nurse and Nurse Tutor he thought the SSRIs would make him feel more motivated and less tired to tackle his problems more efficiently. He did not expect the medication to solve his problems but he knew all the potential benefits of these drugs but not half of the potential risks!!!!! (Thanks to the pharmaceuticals lack of information about the safety of their drugs, which have been withheld for financial gains causing harm). http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/jun/jun2b_04.html

As the FDA and Health Canada warnings on these tablets state: The following symptoms, anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility (aggressiveness), impulsivity, akathisia (psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania, have been reported in adult and paediatric patients being treated with antidepressants. There is concern that such symptoms may represent precursors to emerging suicidality. Consideration should be given to changing the therapeutic regimen, including possibly discontinuing the medication, in patients whose depression is persistently worse, or who are experiencing emergent suicidality, especially if these symptoms are severe, abrupt in onset, or were not part of the patient’s presenting symptoms. Families and caregivers should be alerted about the need to monitor patients for the emergence of agitation, irritability, unusual changes in behaviour, and the other symptoms described above, as well as the emergence of suicidality, and to report such symptoms immediately to health care providers. Physicians should inform patients and caregivers about the benefits and risks associated with treatment with SSRIs and should counsel them in its appropriate use. Physicians are advised to discuss the following issues with patients for whom they prescribe SSRIs and ask them to alert their physician if these occur:
Clinical Worsening and Suicide Risk: Patients and their families should be encouraged to be alert to the emergence of anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia, hypomania, mania, other unsual changes in behaviour, worsening of depression, and suicidal ideation, especially early during antidepressant treatment and when the dose is adjusted up or down. Families and caregivers of patients should be advised to observe for the emergence of such symptoms on a day-to-day basis since changes may be abrupt. Symptoms such as these may be associated with an increased risk for suicidal thinking and behaviour. All patients being treated with antidepressants for any indication should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, and unusual changes in behaviour, especially during the intial few months of a course of drug therapy, or at times of dose changes. Ideally, such observation would include at least weekly face-to-face contact with patients or their family members or caregivers during the first 4 weeks of treatment, then visits every other week for the next 4 weeks, then at 12 weeks, and as clinically indicated beyond 12 weeks. Additional contact by telephone may be appropriate between face-to-face visits.

So it seems that the use of SSRIs might be justified in severely depressed patients but the benefit/risk ratio is poor for mild to moderate depressed patients, whom are most at risk. http://society.guardian.co.uk/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1417197,00.html So informed consent and close monitoring are paramount.

Why is the Irish Medicine Board opted for keeping the Irish Public and the Health Care Providers in the dark? This is causing preventable harm to happen. The present system of regulation and pharmacovigilance needs to change as it is failing consumers.

I call to you today to support my campaign/petition “We deserve to know the truth about the safety of our prescription drugs” to change things for the better by changing the way prescription drugs are regulated in this country. To keep the safety of the public paramount as it is not the case today. Petition website to sign on line: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/444384374 or text/contact 0868386726 for hard copies to sign by hand or joint the campaign (endorsed by Health Action International and Christy Moore). Thanks for your support.

“The time is always right to do what is right”
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter".
Martin Luther King Jnr

Nuria O’Mahony
Emergency Nurse, Cork University Hospital.
Higher Diploma in Critical Care / A&E.
Diploma in Health Studies with Distinction.

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Comments (28 of 28)

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Irish Medicine Board

by Indymedia Ireland Editorial Group - Indymedia Ireland

Tue Mar 22, 2005 23:12

What exactly is it doing wrong? Is it refusing to include these suggested guidelines with SSRIs? Does it deny the suicide danger of SSRIs?

The Irish Medicine Board

Wed Mar 23, 2005 08:13

The IMB is playing the wise monkey card. Hear no EVIL, See no EVIL, speak no EVIL.

What I can not understand is if the FDA (American body and also the Canadian) have the information/data that this is potentially happening to people and have released this information to prevent harm. Why cannot the IMB? If the IMB is waiting for overwhelming evidence to do it....it would be too late for 1 in 1000 people taking these tablets in the near future and in the present. Why???

Regarding VIOXX (pain killers). The drug was withdrawn by the pharmaceutical company itself...too much of a liability, a year later after knowing the dangers of heart attacks and strokes....the IMB release warnings after it was withdrawn...a bit too late for some people. Why did not the IMB withdraw it themselves? Why did it not issue warnings earlier? What kind of drug regulation is this? NONE EXISTENT. You need to use a cautionary approach to keep the safety of the people paramount...not a risk management aproach where the safety of the public comes last. We need INFORMATION and it is the job of the IMB to find out and WARN WARN WARN promptly (Health professionals and consumers alike) when a hint of potential problems appear about prescription drugs in this country. This is not happening with the SSRIs and the IMB lacks transparency, it is not independent as it is not balancing anecdotal evidence with clinical trial summary "evidence" (never mind being 100% funded by the pharmaceutical industry) and definetely it is not accountable to me....silence and secrecy are great weapons. Needs to STOP.

Wed Mar 23, 2005 08:32

All you get from the IMB is that the risk/benefit ration remains positive for the use of SSRIs in the adult population. I am not asking for a ban of these drugs. INFORMED CONSENT. The warning in the medicine box in Ireland does not include the mentioned warning in the US. It is not sufficient!!! If they think by saying if your patient is high risk of suicide monitor closely is sufficient for the doctor?...it is not. That is stating the obvious and denying that the tablets can cause these problems....they need to say it. These tablets CAN cause people to feel suicidal, agitated, anxious...and the list goes on... so doctors can give appropriate treatment and prevent DRUG INDUCED HARM. Why did these tablets were ban for the under 18's? For exactly the same reason. Why is the EMEA (European body) is thinking of issuing a warning up to the age of 30yrs. For the same reason. Why 30? You must get a miraclous physiological mutation at the last stroke of midnight that transform you giving you immunity regarding the severe adverse effects of the SSRIs???? I am calling for the IMB to say the potential dangers of the SSRIs are......in black and white and here is what you can do about it. So further harm can be prevented.

the drugs dont work

by Med

Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:44

As a medical student in UCD i would have to agree with everything you've written here.I hate the way the main emphasis on our medical training is pharmological and not psychological.... Dialogue, communication, information, empowerment, counselling, love, concern, compassion, friendship, human comfort/contact, community solidarity, listening, nature, enlightenment, family, exercise, meditation, religion, attention....
This is how depression should be treated however on our course no emphasis is placed on this.It really is a case of see the patient,prescribe them something and move on to the next patient as asap.

Personal Experience

by duine

Wed Mar 23, 2005 13:07

First of all I commend you for a well writen article on a subject that is brushed under the carpet more than it is being talked about. See, drugs and institutionalisation are an easy answer when one is confronted with a complex problem because it takes up too much time and resources to treat mental health problems properly. As you have listed above there are a variety of ways to treat depression but they aren't really options in todays health service. Doctors pretend they know the cause of depresssion but it is a lie they actually don't. Low seretonin is not the cause of depression and nobody knows why drugs lift mood in some people. Raising seretonin in the brain creates a chain reaction-like effect and where or how the real effect occurs is a mystery. People should know this and be aware of the very dangerous side effects. I think they do help people who are so severe they literally can't get out of bed and are contemplating suicide for surely drugs are better than suicide but the way drugs are handed out so liberally as a solution is a crime. I have depression and my experience of doctors has not been so good. The first two doctors were men and I only saw each one once because they were so insensitive to my feelings. Neither believed I had a serious problem, "you don't look depressed" said the second one yet was still willing to prescribe me drugs. The third was female (I don't know if that is relevant) and really listened to me. I went on an SSRI drug for 3 months but they just made me feel very tired and distant from myself. That isn't to say drugs aren't for everyone but drugs alone are for no one. Some form of therapy is essential in relieving negative feelings. Drugs have their part to play for some people but doctors over prescription of them just delays/averts from finding a real solution. At the end of the day we are social animals and what really makes us happy is having meaningful relationships with other people.

the failure of the IMB to inform

by sean fleming

Wed Mar 23, 2005 20:15

When I contacted the Irish Medicines Board(Dec 2004 -Jan 2205) (IMB) in relation to the risk of diabetes mellitus associated with ‘anti-psychotic drugs’ I was told by them that my concerns were being referred to their medical unit or medical department.

You can imagine my surprise therefore when the response to my concerns came from :

Weber Shandwick|FCC , one of Ireland's leading PR consultancies.

The IMB answer was that it was not unusual to have such issues addressed by PR companies. When I asked the PR company whether they were aware that diabetes mellitus can lead to blindness, kidney failure, that it can accelerate the hardening and narrowing of the arteries, leading to strokes, heart disease and blood vessel diseases and that such serious risks, which neuroleptic psychiatric drugs present, need to be outlined in the patient information leaflet they failed to reply. In fact I contacted them on two occasions about this and they refused me the courtesy of a reply.

This in my view shows how psychiatric patients in Ireland are being failed by the IMB. They first of all lie by saying matters are being referred to their medical department and then hand these queries concerning very serious health matters to a business company which clearly doesn’t give tuppence for the health of psychiatric patients.

The IMB then pretended in further queries that there was no serious risk to the health of psychiatric patients. Patients in the USA are informed of the real risk of diabetes in the PIL(patient information leaflet) - patients in Ireland are not.

For the IMB it’s more important to keep the drug companies on board and the money flowing in and to hell with the psychiatric patient.

IMB failing and failing and failing again

Wed Mar 23, 2005 21:38

I could not agree with you more Seán. Thanks for sharing your experience to confirm my extreme concerns....I supposed I had to experience it first hand the hard way and that is losing my loved one, the father of my 3 children (under 7) and my partner for 13 years to preventable drug induced suicide. The Regulatory bodies are not doing their job to the devastating consequences that I have to go through (not the first not the last unfortunately...for how long???)...we are not talking about a bit of a rash or vomiting...These are life and death issues.

wrongly prescribed anti depressants

by Agnes

Thu Mar 24, 2005 00:37

Doctors too often resort to prescribing anti depressants without looking for physical illness's which can cause depression.

Thyroid disease/hypothyroidism will cause severe depression/pyschosis, due to a drop in circulation thyroxine hormone.

The thyroid gland is the master of all glands, it produces a hormone called thyroxine which is needed by every single cell of the body, to run our metabolism, trigger other hormone production, such as progesterone/estrogen/testosterone, run our brain mechanisms,digestion, neurological system and regulate body temperature.

If there is a drop in thyroxine levels our body will shut/slow down some of these processes, resulting in depression and altered mental /neurological state.

Anti depressants such as Prozac/Paxil contain flouride which impacts negatively/poisons the thyroid gland, causing a drop in levels of thyroxine, this can trigger psychosis and lead to suicide.
That is why those who have an undiagnosed thyroid condition, may suffer an extreme reaction to Prozac and may go berserk or suffer erractic mood swings.

Before prescribing anti depressants doctors should test blood thyroid hormone levels and treat underlying hypothyroidism.

important campaign

by Daniel Dunne - www.holisto.com

Fri Mar 25, 2005 21:16

daniel at holisto dot com

www.holisto.com

Nuria should be congratulated on raising these issues. IMB should be more accountable for it's actions and we should hear from the Minister for Health on these issues also, since the Minister appoints the board, as far as I know.
It is worth approaching all parties in the Dáil on these issues, and also on wider mental health issues. It is the most vulnerable in society who are endangered by our lack of vigilence.
Even the British Medical Journal is addressing the safety issues of SSRIs. See their recent editorial:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7488/0-h
You are doing everyone a service Nuria.

Thanks Daniel

Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:22

It is indeed the Minister for Health who appoints the members of the IMB. I was aware of the latest warning articles in the BMJ.
The most clear is the one from Dean Fergusson et al.

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7488/396?eaf

I hope that it is still available from that site.
I will also call for all the political parties to ask questions and demand answers...because questions without proper answers it is a deservice to our political process...not that many parties are asking questions although they are well aware of this specific issue. Who is representing the most vulnerable here...and the consumers as a whole??....very few...I am finding out personally.

thank you Nuria.

by ipsi hi & lo

Sat Mar 26, 2005 12:02

It would be great if you ask others of your profession to contribute their thoughts on both legal and illegal SSRI use and misuse, and toxicology et cetera...

Also tell us about the pressure your profession has been put under by pharmacology companies and corporations to use their products.

"some pills make you larger, some pills make you small, but the ones that mother give you do nothing at all."

Pressure by pharmaceuticals

by Nuria O'Mahony

Sat Mar 26, 2005 15:01

Where it comes to nursing the pharmaceutical pressure is very subtle...at the end of the day we have no power to PRESCRIBE. They encourage promoting the disease or disorder on the hope of increase of medication will follow in the name of increase awareness of the public....as if you have asthma....you will miss it otherwise!!!!!!! Something I refuse to do...I do not advertise diseases or disorders...as it is not in the best interest of my patients....milder conditions then are pushed into the same or similar treatment of moderate/severe conditions...as a preventative....just in case it gets worse. It is dangerous and it is the case with the SSRIs with detrimental consequences. Saying that the pharmaceuticals seem to be tackling the "weakest link" and in no way I am putting down the medical profession but when it comes to SSRIs and depression. The family doctor is not the most knowledgable doctor in Psychiatry/Psychology therefore they are open to be persuaded more easily that some others who have more experience in dealing with the problem in an "expert" basis. Also I have to say depends what qualifications you are holding...I do not think the pharmaceuticals would target a psychologist because again it has no power to Prescribe and it would not agree with the biological model of psychiatry....so the GPs are carrying the burden mostly with psychiatry for the prescription of these drugs and those are the targets of phamaceuticals...mainly GPs as they do not ask that many questions...they go along with the pharmaceutical flow and get bonuses....of one kind or another for doing so, unaware of the potential consequences!!!

Shooter in Indian School Massacre on Anti-depressants

by cazorP

Sat Mar 26, 2005 15:26

"Grant, who was taking Zoloft, said he and Weise talked in detail about antidepressants. He said Weise told him he was taking 40 milligrams a day of Prozac: 20 in the morning, 20 at night.
"He was a lot more quiet. I wouldn't say any better," Grant said.
In October, the Food and Drug Administration ordered that all antidepressants carry "black box" warnings of an increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children. Prozac is the only antidepressant found to be safe and effective for children."

ssri induced suicide has been largely ignored worldwide

by km - none

Sat Mar 26, 2005 18:45

as at the moment an ex consumer of these drugs,i would like to thank nuria for highlighting issue's with the dangers of these drugs,i think the world would be a better place without them.one only has to look at the school masaceres in the u.s.a to realize that there is one common denomenator every time.the kids that commit these acts are all taking prescribed psycoactive drugs.i think there's always been troubled adolecents in soiciety but i dont think there has been as much widespread druging of kids as there is today .it appears to me that health professionals are largely ignoring these problems,i would predict that 20 years from now dr.s will be more informed and look back and see how badly wrong they got the whole antidepressant phiasco but by then it will be far to late for to many people. i hope this petion gains much public support.

not quite ignored.

by -

Sun Mar 27, 2005 23:44

just not covered in mainstream press.

death, depression and prozac

by eeekkkk

Sun Apr 03, 2005 15:41

"The minute the high command at Eli Lilly, manufacturer of Prozac, saw those news stories about Weise you can bet they went into crisis mode, and only began to relax when Weise's websurfs of neo-Nazi sites took over the headlines. Hitler trumps Prozac every time, particularly if it's an "Injun" teen ranting about racial purity. How many times, amid the carnage of such homicidal sprees, do investigators find a prescription for antidepressants at the murder scene? Luvox at Columbine, Prozac at Louisville, Kentucky, where Joseph Wesbecker killed nine, including himself. You'll find many such stories in the past fifteen years.

By now the Lilly defense formula is pretty standardized:self-righteous handouts about the company's costly research and rigorous screening, crowned by the imprimatur of that watchdog for the public interest, the FDA. And of course there's the bogus comfort of numbers; if Lilly's pill factory had a big sign like MacDonald's, it could boast Prozac: Billions Served.

Each burst in the sewage pipe brings a new challenge to Lilly's sales force, which has had some heavy hitters down the years, including George Herbert Walker Bush (onetime member of the Lilly board of directors); former Enron CEO Ken Lay (onetime member of the board); George W. Bush's former director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mitch Daniels (a former senior vice president); George W. Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council member Sidney Taurel (a Lilly CEO); or the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (a recipient of Lilly funding).
"

IMB fails the public over SSRIs

by Basil Miller - depressiondialogues.ie

Fri Sep 23, 2005 13:47

editor at depressiondialogues dot ie

2 Eden Park

(01) 2877782

The IMB is failing in its statutory duty. Despite a huge amount of evidence, and the recent decision by the US FDA to extend its Black Box suicide warning to adults due to hard scientific evidence, it refuses to warn people of the dangers of these drugs. See my investigation and analysis at http://www.depressiondialogues.ie/IMB

Drugaí?

by Duine

Fri Sep 23, 2005 17:22

Molaim do éinne a bhfuil an lionn dubh ag cur air úsc an phlanda Beathnua ( Hypericum ) a chaitheamh.
Is cógás an dúlra é.

Despair is not clinical depression

by Damien

Sun Sep 25, 2005 15:07

I refuse to believe the original poster has any medical training.

Clinical depression is not, and has never been considered to be the same as despair.

Clinical depresssion is a condition which typically shows many other symptoms such as elation (the opposite of despair) and mania - for example the patient may believe they can fly.

The post contains huge inaccuracies and misunderstandings of clinical depresssion.
It is simply the usual lies peddled by the church of scientology to pick on the most vulberable in our society.

ssri or nothing

by fi

Thu Sep 29, 2005 23:34

I would just like to raise the issue of alternatives to these drugs. I have been taking lustral for the last 6 months, and have just come off it (with nasty side-effects). It may have made me slightly less depressed, if you can say that of a zombie existence. My point is that I begged my GP for an alternative to drugs - I have taken prozac in the past, no good - my depression is largely due to external reasons this time - but she could offer me no alternative. As a medical card holder, the only counselling I can get is in the hospital psych ward, and i'm not that bad yet. I can't afford to pay for what I need, but I can get as many of these drugs as I want for free. It doesn't seem right.

an alternative....

by eoghain

Tue Oct 18, 2005 17:02

not sure if anyone has highlighted this already but as part of an advanced business qualification a year or two ago I took a course covering psychological / human behavioural isses and the lecturer was a firm advocate of a non medication driven approach to managing depression known as "COGNATIVE THERAPY". I'm not presenting it as an alternative to medication, but everyone should know more about this approach to at least dealing with mild / medium depression and in conjuction with "traditional" medication, it increasingly plays a role in severe cases.
A good starting point is a book called FEELING GOOD, THE NEW MOOD THERAPY, by Burns. Suspend your disbelief, check it out on Amazon and get a second hand copy.

Hope this helps someone.

homeopathic medicine for depression

by a patient

Tue Oct 18, 2005 17:31

The homeopathic medicine "Hypericum Auro cultum Herba D3" has no side effects and does wonders for me. It is prescribed for reactive depression. Consult a doctor first, perhaps a practitioner of anthroposophic medicine.

Comment from Damien

by Nuria O'Mahony - Author

Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:50

I disagree with Damien's comments. I am a qualified emergency nurse with a distinction in my high education diploma in health studies and I have a post-grad higher diploma in critical care. So I believe my article was well researched. First of all despair you are quite right is not clinical depression that is the way it should be...but unfortunately it isn't in general practice and that is part of the problem. Nobody wants to see anybody in pain (emotional or otherwise, but it is part of NORMAL LIFE) but because of that, they are misdiagnosing and treating emotional problems (ie. despair....insomnia....crying...not enjoying things we used to....loss of appetite...pain) as clinical depression when most majority of GPs only have one "offer of treatment" MEDICATION. Medication carries a lot of risks....as I stated above. The NICE guidelines in the UK advice not to prescribe medication for mild depression at all. So Damien even if you are mildly depressed MEDICATION is not adviced for your treatment but the reality is in this country according to the primetime programme in RTE figures...10 out of 10 patients in their survey that is all they got from GPs that they only have seen ONCE and were unknown to them, never to be seen again.

So please do not tell me that there is all mambo jumbo...when people are dying as a consequence of bad practice, misguidance, misleading marketing of the drugs by pharmaceuticals and the repression of vital safety information on these drugs by their manufacturers....By the way I do not have anything to do with the CHURCH of SCIENTOLOGY.....I am ROMAN CATHOLIC. If that makes any difference to you...although I do not think you are going to listen and that not means that people should not be aware of what is happening that can cause them great harm and according to the latest studies, the SSRIs antidepressants (most commonly used) DO NOT WORK.

See the article “Efficacy of antidepressants in adults” by Joanna Monchieff + Irving Kirsch in the British Medical Journal in July 2005 that concluded “Recent meta-analyses show SSRIs have NO CLINICALLY MEANINGFUL ADVANTAGE OVER PLACEBO, Claims that antidepressants are more effective in more severe conditions have LITTLE evidence to support them, Methodological artefacts may account for the SMALL degree of superiority shown over placebo, Antidepressants have not been convincingly shown to affect the long-term outcome of depression or SUICIDE RATES and Given doubt about their BENEFITS and CONCERN about their RISKS, current recommendations for prescribing antidepressants SHOULD be RECONSIDERED” & the latest study published on the 22/8/05 “Suicide attempts in clinical trials with paroxetine randomised against placebo” by Ivar Aursnes et al. that concluded “PATIENTS AND DOCTORS SHOULD BE WARNED THAT THE INCREASED SUICIDAL ACTIVITY OBSERVED IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS TAKING CERTAIN ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS MAY ALSO BE PRESENT IN ADULTS. The data STRONGLY SUGGEST that the use of SSRIs is CONNECTED with an increased intensity of suicide attempts per year. The two meta-analyses and our contribution taken together make a strong case for the conclusion, at least with a short time perspective, that adults taking antidepressants have an increased risk of suicide attempts. We also conclude that the recommendation of restrictions on the use of paroxetine for children and adolescents recently conveyed by regulatory agencies SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE USAGE BY ADULTS”.

I would like to request any concerned people of ireland to join me and sign my petition for more information and transparency on the use of OUR prescription drugs. See my article for the link to my petition.

Thank you.

By the way damien

Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:14

By the way...your comment of

"Clinical depresssion is a condition which typically shows many other symptoms such as elation (the opposite of despair) and mania - for example the patient may believe they can fly."

You are describing....Manic depression (sometimes referred as bipolar with a psychotic episode "the patient may believe they can fly") not clinical depression....so much for your medical knowledge!!!! and by the way your description is not TYPICAL. Most "depressions" in the community do not show such symptoms. Your comment is misleading boy.

Also many NORMAL REACTIONS to life events have been MISDIAGNOSED as depression when they are part of our daily lives that we can overcome with time, love, affection, emotional support, exercise, good diet, breathing exercises, counselling, lifestyle changes in a resilient community. But this is lacking today. MEDICATION should not play any part on our NORMAL DAILY LIVES. We should change the way we do things and we cannot do that without TAKING CHARGE and have ALL THE FACTS. We do not have the facts today and that is what I am trying to achieve. Openness, transparency, full disclosure to make INFORMED DECISIONS.

I am not anti-drug...Drugs should be used cautiously and when absolutely necessary. In that way they save lives. We should also know all the possible risks as the possible benefits and weigh up the balance to make a personal decision and be able to do something about those dangers if they occur while taking those drugs.

Christian

by Survivor

Sun Apr 06, 2008 18:58

Damien you are right from what brief part I've read. All's I can say is keep up the good work, stay brave about speaking up against the drugs. If not for the mighty living God those drugs would have killed me. Today I am married, have a son and my mother, brothers, and sisters are rude to me because I had to escape them as well years ago. They cannot be happy for me, just resentful, and that is their loss.
New doctors and professionals, students in particular like the woman writing this have never been taught the truth about these drugs in their studies and very ignorantly swear by them. Only few real scientists ever find out what it really is. God has shown to me what they really are. He introduced Himself to me and shared with me that it was evil and that it was against Him. He did this by showing me a scientists holding up a flask of potion and shaking it up against heaven. When God kept His hand on me, my family and doctors argued with me to take their medicines, claiming that "God made everything, so God made this medicine, too..." People can argue, but God did not make them. In part of the beginning of time, when the children of Isreal were being delivered from Egypt, some of them melted the elements of the earth and made a golden calf out of them. Indeed, these were the elements that God made, however, God was NEVER in favor of that molten calf. I am a hand-picked chosen and very elect child of God. I know these things first off because I know Him by Name--which is Jesus. And I don't know HIm by another human being. My faith is not just a crutch. I was given wisdom on this matter, and it is impeccable and from above. This is not just a belief in my head resulting from instability, or another human's doctrinate.
All professionals should carefully consider the grounds of the information they have studied...it is not as reliable as they think. When I became older and out of the grips of danger, me and my husband have studied the physical historical background of these drugs to find evidence for those that don't know who Jesus is. People don't always want Jesus, but that is no reason for them to not want to know the truth about what goes or doesn't go into their blood. I think everyone deserves to know about that--in TRUTH.
So if you are someone reading this who is suffering emotionally, please don't start these drugs--that is dangerous. Consult someone that knows about natural herbs--please! The only person that ever ever ever told me to not take those drugs was GOD HIMSELF. Whoever you are, you have me writing this message, this internet, and God is not too far away from any of us. Real, honest, moral scientists and/or phsycians KNOW the dangers of these drugs. But they are afraid to speak up because they are persecuted, yes, TODAY! They were created to act as a chemical lobotomy, to subdue the mind and spirit. The damage is scientifically irrepairable and you will wind up not caring about your family--or yourself.
All of you resentful phsycians and professionals out there watchout for your rage--you're not right and if you keep it up you will find out all too late someday. I am called to pray that doesn't happen to you. Look carefully at the history, and consider. And then look carefully at the motives and malpractices of the money and power-hungry pharmaceutical companies. These medicines don't save lives, they take them. I have been through it and what I say can be taken to the bank, if you please--it is genuine.

A Passing Comment

by Mr. Man

Mon Apr 07, 2008 02:24

A Patient - Homeopathy works quite well on depression. However, this is most likely purely because many forms of depression are unrelated to brain chemistry an thus can be cured by the power of your mind. Personally, I believe homeopathy is a crock but to each their own and if it helps people then great. Herbalists really get me riled up though, mainly because it actually works but most have no real idea how or why, dont consult a doctor (I have heard many stories of herbal supplements badly reacting with prescribed meds) plus, pharma companies ARE herbalists. Almost everything that they produce comes from plants, just isolated and purified. Sorry for the rant, a bit off topic too. My 2c are that while there is an epidemic of over prescription and wrongful prescription, SSRIs can help a lot of people if controlled correctly.

Readers of this thread may be interested in the case of Dr. David healy

by Marvin

Mon Apr 07, 2008 04:07

I concur with people's anxieties regarding SSRI's.
Don't take them unless you have exhausted every other avenue.
They do make you more suicidal, especially at times of stress.

Simplify your life, learn to say no, eat a balanced diet and take regular physical exercise.
And try not to alienate all your friends. You'll need them from time to time when you are
not yourself and your depression is distorting your reality.

Check out the case of Dr David Healy,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Healy_%28psychiatrist%29

http://www.healyprozac.com/AcademicFreedom/lecture.pdf

http://www.healyprozac.com/

lots of relevant testimonials on youtube too.

The guardian has an article on the subject today

Mon Apr 07, 2008 07:02

"Tranquillisers putting children's lives at risk"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/07/mentalhea...drugs

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Treatment of depression and the hidden dangers of the SSRIs antidepressants

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